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Remember him well from my earlier years following the sport – a regular in events like the County of Ayr and Eider Chases. Bringing him back for hunters’ chases in his teens didn’t prove too bountiful a move, though.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Dancing Paddy’s low head carriage must have scared his jockeys witless as he approached a fence. Used to find myself shouting "look up" at the screen. He won the Grade 2 Future Champion Novices’ Chase at Ayr in 2005 but ended his career by finishing sixth in a selling hurdle at Towcester in December 2001.
He won the Grade 2 Future Champion Novices’ Chase at Ayr in 2005 but ended his career by finishing sixth in a selling hurdle at Towcester in December 2001.
Hunh? Was he a horse or a timelord?
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Any race Harchibald ran in the season he came 2nd in the Champion was very exciting to watch, full of incident and talking points.
I used to quite like Pipe / Johnson stayer Stormez, Tony McCoy used to have fun and games persuading him that running fast was a good idea.
Another blast from the past.
Ubedizzy – didn’t he take the top off a stable lad’s finger in the winner’s enclosure at Haydock?
Vincent O’Brien had one that ended up running in a net muzzle due to a tendency to bite other horses during a race. Might have been Mariinsky, but stand to be corrected on that. Think it died of a twisted gut at stud in the USA – no wonder he was such a vicious B!
How could we forget BROWNE’S GAZETTE whipping round at the start and all, but refusing to race in the Champion when hot favourite.
He could be very unrully and sometimes uncontrolable. Everyone including his jockey thought he was acting the goat again, when running through the rails in Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth (Please correct me if i am wrong) What had actually happened that day is he had a heart attack, which sent him reeling across the course and killed him.
Dom Samourai, Deano’s Beeno, Run For Free and Riverside Boy (I’m sure there’s a pattern there….) are four of my favourite “challenging” horses of recent times – I particularly enjoyed watching the latter completely take the p!ss out of Mark Richards when going out for the second circuit of the ’94 National.
How could we forget BROWNE’S GAZETTE whipping round at the start and all, but refusing to race in the Champion when hot favourite.
He could be very unrully and sometimes uncontrolable. Everyone including his jockey thought he was acting the goat again, when running through the rails in Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth (Please correct me if i am wrong) What had actually happened that day is he had a heart attack, which sent him reeling across the course and killed him.
You’re not wrong ~ in commentary it was said that he tried to run out. It must be said that Browne’s Gazette’s whipping round at the start of the CH may just have had something to do with the man on his back. Monica Dickinson was openly critical of Dermot Browne post race if I recall. Essentially the horse looked like he might charge the tape so Browne took a turn to the left and his mount flyjumped in that direction when the tapes rose. His trainer was in no doubt that charging the tape would have been the correct course of action and I’m inclined to agree.
She was critical of Dermot a lot more than once. In truth Mrs. D wouldn’t share a can of coke with the man and if she shook hands with him she be counting her fingers after it
I sat with him at a Jockey’s dinner and dance and I can tell you the guy was not the type of person you would normally find in a Dickinson yard. Great fun to be with but the guy was a total lunatic and I couldn’t possibly say this but some say he would rob his granny if he could.
"Needle man" eventually became one of the most hated men in racing.
Browne’s Gazzzette was some animal though and when Keelby Cavalier finished 2nd to him at Cheltenhah, his jockey said "that fellow will win the Champion"………With Dermot on board who knows what really happened that day and what made him fly jump. All I know is he ran 2 stone below his best and rumour has it……..well use your imagination
I doubt if anybody will remember this but there was an Arthur Stephenson horse in his own colours i think who tailed himself off at Donny and picked up the bit in the straight to fly through for a bizarre win. It must have been in the old ITV 7 cos i was still at school.
I love horses like that, Jumpsfan – ploddy, often cantankerous old yokes who love to get a mile behind before screaming home, sometimes to winning effect!
Caesar’s Palace’s win at Ayr in 2007 springs readily to mind, and if you haven’t seen a playback of it before, do. The similarly inclined Mr Christie had at least a couple of fans on this site in his pomp, and I’m sure a few people have soft spots for that terminal rogue Amjad, as well.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Ouninpohja and Rith Dubh were two of my favourites. I wonder what it is that makes that sort of horse be so quirky – a physical thing, a bad experience or what?
Jug Of Punch is a current favourite too. He does the "I’ll get miles behind then charge home" bit, but has his going days as when miles out of the weights at Cheltenham last year.
Maljimar is starting to look a touch quirky. Either that or it starts to panic when A P McCoy comes chasing after it jumping the last at Cheltenham!!
Jug Of Punch is a current favourite too. He does the "I’ll get miles behind then charge home" bit, but has his going days as when miles out of the weights at Cheltenham last year.
At present he’s forgetting to do the charge home bit! Real overachiever on balance, though, and still miles clear to a level stakes profit (lifetime +113pts).
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Vodkatini was an often brilliant lunatic and what was the horse J Francome used to ride in the early eighties? It was a 3 mile hurdler who did the same as Run Over in top races … Derring Rose ??
Not so much quirky but different was King’s Curate who Mark Perrett shoved along for 3 and a bit miles to win the Stayers Hurdle (carrying my money, thanks Mark) .
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